Instructions

Step 1: Prepare and Measure all of the Ingredients:

• Wash the Poblano Chilies
• Shred and have 3 cups of Colby Jack Cheese at the ready.
• Set out 8 Large Eggs
• Chop 1 Onion
• Dice or Mince 3-6 Cloves of Garlic
• Open and drain the Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• Open and drain the Olives
• In a bowl, add the white flour, corn flour (or corn meal), cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper
• Prepare 1-2 Tablespoon of Fresh Oregano (or 1-2 teaspoon of Dry Oregano) and Prepare 1-2 Tablespoon of Fresh Thyme (or 1-2 teaspoon of Dry Thyme) 
• Make sure your Mushrooms are Sliced and Ready
• Pull out the 2 Pounds of Ground Beef and have it at the Ready
• Measure out 1 cup of your Mexican lager beer

Step 2: Set a charcoal chimney full of briquettes to fire. This first cycle of briquettes are the ones we’ll use to fire-roast our chilies and sauté our beef and onions.

Step 3: Prepare the Egg Mixture

In the bowl, add the white flour, corn flour (or corn meal), cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper, add the herbs, and eight eggs. Blend very well to make sure all the ingredients are blended and there are no “flour bubbles” floating around.

Once the egg and all of the dry ingredients are blended, add the one cup of beer and mix in well.

Step 4: Blister and Roast the Pobalno Chilies.

Once the fire is hot and ready, add all the briquettes to a grill or fire pit with a grill. Top the grill’s grate with the poblano chilies. I usually use my hand to turn and position the chilies as they roast. We’re looking for a nice char on the skin. It’ll bubble and blister; that is PERFECT. Patience is the key here. They may end up looking burned but they are not (unless you actually burn them).

Just keep rotating the chilies to get all the sides of the chilies chard and roasted. This char will come off when we peel the chilies later. This process requires a bit of patience. We really want to take our time here and get a good roasted and smoky flavor. A good fire-roasted chili will peel easily and will also lay flat on top of our casserole when we add the fire-roasted chilies to the recipe.

Chef Tip: While roasting your Pobalno Chili, add a bit of barbecue wood or grill wood to the hot briquettes to give the chilies a smoky flavor. But, as anything: too much of a good thing ain’t good. Smoke-flavor is not like money; more smoke ain’t better.

Step 5: Create the Sweat Bag

An easy way to “sweat” the chilies is to use a gallon sized zipper bag. Insert a make-shift parchment paper bag or an actual paper bag into the zipper bag. The steam from the chilies will soften the skin and make them easier to peel.

Tear off a length of parchment paper twice as long at the zipper bag you are using. Fold the parchment paper in half and stick it in the zipper bag. Once the chilies are charred and blistered, place the chilies in this bag and zip up the bag. The hot chilies will steam and soften. The skins will come off easy, easy, easy.

Step 6: Set the Dutch Oven over the bed of HOT Charcoal Briquettes to Pre-Heat

After the chilies are bagged up, move the grill’s grate out of the way. Place your regular 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven over that bed of hot charcoal briquettes and let the pot preheat.

Once the pot is hot, add one of the two pounds of ground beef. Instead of breaking up the ground beef, sear and caramelize the meat in one piece; almost like a large hamburger patty. This will give the dish a better flavor (if you ask me). And…this will make it easier to get the ground beef out of the pot when it’s browned. It may not cook fully in the middle and that’s okay. We’ll be putting the casserole together later and the beef will cook just fine during the bake.

After the first pound of beef is browned, set it aside in a bowl and brown the second pound of ground beef. Set both aside for later.

Often, I will use this time to peel my chilies while browning the second pound of beef and while sauteing the onions and garlic.

While browning the second pound of ground beef, set 24-30 new briquettes to fire in the charcoal chimney. These are the briquettes we will bake the entire casserole with after we put everything together.

Step 7: Saute the Onions and the Garlic

You may need to add a bit of butter or oil to the pot if the pot seems too “dry” to saute the onions, garlic, and the mushrooms.

Check on your second batch of charcoal briquettes. You’ll need them in a moment. Is your ground beef ready to add back? What about your chilies? Are they peeled and ready to layer on the casserole?

Step 8: Add the Mushrooms and let them Cook a bit with the Onions and the Garlic.

While the mushrooms are softening up and cooking, make sure the chilies are peeled and the stems, placentas, and seeds are removed (you’ll never get all of the seeds out and that’s perfectly okay).

Also, make sure your ground beef is chopped and ready to add back to the pot.

Step 9: Return the Browned Ground Beef Back to the Dutch Oven

After adding the beef back to the Dutch oven, give everything a good mixing. Mix the ground beef in with the onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Smooth everything out flat and level.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME YOU BLEND ANY OF THE INGREDIENTS. The rest of the ingredients will be layered. 

Step 10: Spread (rather sprinkle) the chunks of tomato and sliced olives over the ground beef mixture in the pot. 

Do not stir the tomato and olives in with the ground beef mixture.

Step 11: Spread 1 ½ Cups of shredded Colby Jack Cheese.

Spread 1 ½ Cups of shredded Colby Jack Cheese over the tomatoes and olives (over the ingredients in the pot). If you have already measured out three cups, just use ½ of the cheese you have prepared. 

Step 12: Cover the Entire Dish with the Peeled and Prepared Pobalano Chilies

It’s usually a puzzle but definitely not to be an over-thought process. Just lay them out as you like. No worries.

Step 13: Pour over the Egg/Beer Mixture

Before adding the liquid egg and beer mixture to the recipe, give it another good scrambling. Most of the bits of ingredients will have “sunk” to the bottom of the bowl. Mix it up once more and then pour the mixture evenly over the chilies and other ingredients.

Take care and go slowly; don’t “wash away” any of the layers you have created by pouring over too fast.

Step 14: Cover the Entire Dish with the Remaining Cheese

Evenly spread the cheese over the entire dish. It will not look very “pretty” at this point but that’s okay; it’ll pretty-up in a bit.

Step 15: Dust the Entire Dish with some Chili Powder

Use a nice chili powder of your choice to “dust” the top of the last layer of cheese on your casserole. Remember: more is not always better.

Step 16: Bake your Casserole for 30-45 Minutes and Until the Dish is Cooked

Cover the pot with the lid and remove it from the heat (what heat is remaining). Remove all of the current briquettes. They are likely spent at this point. 

Take the new batch of briquettes we started back in Step 4. Place eight briquettes in the pattern of your choice under the Dutch oven. Place sixteen briquettes on the top of the lid of the Dutch oven. 

Briquette Count Tip: I use the times-two guideline when I heat the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Take the diameter of the Dutch Oven and multiply it times two:

12-inches X 2 = 24

We need to bake the dish. Use 1/3rd of the briquettes under the Dutch Oven and 2/3rds on the lid of the Dutch Oven. This will give you about a 350°F / 175°C temperature.

Step 17: Bake for 15 Minutes then Turn the Pot

Turn the lid of the Dutch oven 1/3rd of a turn in one direction and then the whole pot 1/3rd of a turn in the other direction. Then, let the dish bake for another 15 minutes.

Step 18: After Baking for 30 Minutes, Check the Recipe for Doneness

Give the dish a peek. Is it done? I will likely be fully set and baked. Give it a test to see. You could use a thermometer. Casseroles with egg and meat should be baked until the internal temperature of your casserole reaches 165°F / 74°C.

NOTE: We put chili powder over our dish and this will give the cheese an extra toasty appearance. Don’t be “tricked” by thinking the dish is done by the “toastiness” of the top layer of the casserole. 

If the casserole is not done, then give the pot another turn like we did in Step 15, and bake for another 5-15 minutes more. 

ENJOY!

Instructions

This is a Pack-and-Go Recipe

You will not believe how easy this one is to make. The ingredients need to marinate for a day or two. And, that’s perfect. All the cutting, chopping, mincing, mixing, and stuff will all be done at home, packaged up in one zipper bag, and hauled to camp.

Pre-Prepare at Home:

Step 1: Trim your chicken thighs a bit. We need the skin, but we don’t need all that much skin.

Step 2: Roughly chop the prunes. You could leave them whole, but I don’t. I coarsely chop the prunes into smaller pieces.

Step 3: Place the 6 (+/-) chicken thighs into the gallon-sized zipper bag.

Step 4: Prepare the Marinade – Add to the zipper bag of chicken. The chopped prunes, olives, 12 ounces of beer, the capers with the liquid, minced garlic, oregano, and the salt. Basically, add everything but the oil and brown sugar to that zipper bag. Mix the ingredients well. Cover the chicken with the marinade.

You could prepare the marinade in a side bowl, mix, and then pour in the bag with the chicken. Or, you could just add each ingredient into the bag of chicken then mix around in the bag. It’s all good…either way.

Step 5: Let the chicken rest in the marinade for a day or two in the cooler, ice chest, or refrigerator. If you are keeping the chicken stored in a container with other non-meat items, consider double-bagging the chicken.

In Camp and Ready to Cook. This recipe will end up being baked. We’ll need at least 24 briquettes to bake this recipe in the 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven.

Step 6: Set 24-40 briquettes to fire. Set the cast iron Dutch oven near by to warm as the briquettes fire up.

Step 7: While the briquettes are heating up, remove the chicken from the marinade and set on a paper towel-lined tray or other clean surface with the skin side up.

Chef Tip: I suggest using a paper towel lining to let the excess moisture wick away from the bone side of the chicken. The brown sugar will be added to the skin side and do a good job “soaking” up any excess moisture.

Chef Tip: When you remove the chicken from the marinade, some of the prunes, garlic, and olives may piggy-back along. Some of these ingredients are okay. Don’t let too many tag along. We really only want the chicken in the pot while we are searing the chicken in the hot cast iron.

Step 8: Add about a teaspoon of brown sugar per piece of chicken but only on the skin side.

Step 9: Once the briquettes are done and ready, set the camp cast iron Dutch oven over a bed of hot charcoal briquettes and really heat that cast iron up to a wicked hot temperature.

Step 10: Add the oil to the pot and let it get very hot. You’ll see whips of smoke from the oil’s surface. Perfect. We need a hot pot that will sear that chicken very well. Six pieces of chicken to the 12-inch Dutch oven will really cool that pot down fast.

We need a really hot pot to get a good sear on so many pieces of chicken.

Step 11: Add the chicken to the pot skin side down. The brown sugar will likely have drawn some of the moisture from the chicken and have “stuck” to the chicken skin. Some of the sugar may fall off during transfer. Don’t worry about it; it’s okay.

You could sear in batches. Sear 3 pieces of the chicken on both sides and then the other three. I just do all six and let the broth steam off. If you find that your chicken “boiled” during your first attempt at this recipe, you may not have had the heat hot enough. No worries. It’ll still be delicious. But, next time consider searing in batches of three.

Step 12: Once the skin side is seared and browned, flip each piece over and sear the bone side of the chicken thighs. When both sides are browned, turn each piece skin-side-up.

Step 13: Once the chicken is seared and browned, remove the pot from the heat. Add the remaining marinade ingredients to the pot and over that chicken. Spread evenly over the chicken and between the pieces of chicken.

Step 14: Place the lid back on the pot and add 16-18 hot briquettes to the top. Place a ring of 8-10 hot briquettes to the bottom. Let the meal cook until the chicken reached 165°F / 75°C degrees at the bone and the juices flow clear.

Instructions

Set Up

Step 1: Add the Dry Ingredients: flour, sugar, yeast, and salt to the bread maker’s basket and turn the machine to the dough cycle.

Step 2: Measure your beer and make sure you are not measuring foam. Let the beer settle and ensure you have a cup of beer.

Step 3: Turn on the bread machine and let the dry ingredients start mixing. 

Step 4: Pour in the beer and then the oil.

Chef Tip: Not all cups of flour are created equal. If the cups of flour were on the “heavy” side, you may need to add more beer to the forming dough. What does the ball of dough look like as it is being kneaded by the bread machine? Do you need to add any beer? If you have a 12-ounce can or bottle that you removed the cup of beer from, use some of the remaining 4-ounces but only a tablespoon at a time. It’ll go from too dry to too wet if you add just a tablespoon too much.

Step 5: Pull out about two tablespoons of butter and place it in the bottom of the 12-inch cast iron Dutch oven to warm to room temperature. About 5-10 minutes before the dough cycle is done on the bread machine, smear the soft-room temperature butter all upon the insides of that Dutch oven and up the sides (the rolls will rise higher). 

BUTTER IS THE KEY TO NON-STICK ROLLS: Smearing butter (BUTTER and not oil or grease) all upon the bottom and sides of that cast iron Dutch oven.

Step 6: Once the bread machine is done, remove the dough from the bread machine basket and lay it on a lightly floured surface.

Step 7: Stretch the dough out and into a long, French-bread like loaf about as big around as a normal man’s forearm.

Step 8: Cut the dough into 2-inch to 3-inch sections. No need to be perfect here; not at all. Some rolls may be bigger; some may be smaller. No worries.

Step 9: Lay each cut, section on the floured surface and form a ball by pulling the edges to the center and pinching it closed. 

Step 10: Turn the formed round dough over to where the pinched section is the bottom and place the small ball of dough into the deep cast iron Dutch oven. 

Step 11: Continue to form the rolls and place them in the Dutch oven and evenly space with room for them to rise in the Dutch oven.

Step 12: Let them rise in the Dutch oven as you travel to camp or the picnic area.

Ready to Bake

Step 13: When you are ready to bake your rolls, set 24 briquettes to fire. When they are red hot and ready, place 8 briquettes in a wide circle just about equal to the diameter of the bottom of the Dutch oven but not right under the Dutch oven.

Step 14: Evenly cover the top of the Dutch oven with the other 16 briquettes and let the rolls bake for about 10 minutes.

Step 15: After 10 minutes, turn the lid ⅓ of a turn in one direction and the whole pot ⅓ of a turn in the other direction. If you “take a peek,” you will see some light toasting of the tops of the rolls. 

Step 16: After another 10 minutes, they are likely done or very close to being done. Take a peek (only a peek) at the rolls. Is the bottom toasting? “Seeing” the bottom of the rolls is not really possible. But, what do the edges near the cast iron pot’s edge look like? This is where this recipe will help teach you how to bake bread. We really can’t “see” if our bottoms are burning or not cooking as fast as the tops. We get a “feel” for how the rolls are “looking.” 

Chef Tip: How do the bottoms of the rolls look? “Study” the way they look. If they look perfect, then your bottom briquette arrangement is perfect. Do the same thing every time from now on. Too light? Next time make a tighter circle of briquettes. Too dark? Next time spread the circle out a little wider. 

Also, does it seem the tops are cooking faster than the bottoms? This is common if you are baking in a shallow cast iron Dutch oven; the briquette-covered lid is “closer” to the top of the rolls and sometimes the tops will cook faster than the bottoms.

Step 17: When the rolls “look” done, remove the briquettes from the top of the Dutch oven and then remove the oven from the bottom heat. 

Chef Tip: That cast iron is HOT! Those rolls will continue to cook in that pot and may “toast” a bit more if you don’t plan to eat them right away. Leaving the lid off and covering them with a dry dish towel is perfect.

Chef Tip: If you are not planning to eat the rolls right away and are leaving them in a covered, cast iron Dutch oven, they may create condensation in that pot while they rest. This is a no-go! That dry dish towel is perfect for this as well.

If you really want to know if your bread is baked all the way through, you could use a temperature probe to check one of the roll centers. Though raw bread dough is not like raw meat, I still don’t want doughy rolls. 

Bread is baked when the internal temperature is 190°F / 88°C. And, sometimes I may pull the pot from the fire when the bread has reached 180°F / 82°C and let it keep baking from the residual heat of that cast iron Dutch oven.

Chef Tip: If you feel your bottoms not cooking during the bake, move the bottom briquette circle in closer (smaller circle and more “under” the pot). 

And there you go! BREAD IN CAMP.